Little Fires Everywhere
By: Celeste Ng
Published: September 12, 2017 by Penguin Press
338 pages (Hardcover)
Rating: 5/5 stars
“Most of the time, everyone deserves more than one chance. We all do things we regret now and then. You just have to carry them with you”
This book was probably one of the best books I have ever read. I know that is not saying much considering I haven’t read tons of books. Everything that took place in this novel was in the book for a reason. It all helped the beautiful story progress. It was written so smoothly and at no point was I bored or confused. I don’t know why it took me this long to get to it. I hesitated because it just didn’t sound like something I would read. I was so wrong.
Synopsis:
You are following a few families, the Richardson’s, the Warrens or the Wrights, and the McCulloughs. Mia Warren, an artist and single mother to Pearl, rents a house from the Richardson’s. When all the Richardson kids are drawn to the Warren family no one actually knows about their past, specifically Mia’s. Not much really happens except friendship until the McCulloughs decide they want to adopt an asian baby that was left at a fire station. It leaves the mother of the Richardson’s, Elena, and Mia on opposing sides. When Izzy, the daughter of Elena, brought something to her mothers attention about Mia it gave her all the more reason to find everything she could about Mia and her mysterious past. Unfortunately, all the time and energy put into the search came with a cost that Elena never realized.
Characters:
If you think that going into this you will know exactly what’s going to happen, you are wrong. There were so many things that popped up that I would have never expected. Everyone surprised me for the most part. In the beginning of the novel I already knew that I wasn’t going to like Elena (Mrs. Richardson) or Mr. Richardson. I don’t like it when people think they are better than everyone because they have money and “nice” material belongings. I thought I wasn’t going to like their four kids either but they weren’t all that bad.
You don’t really get to know Trip all that much except for the fact that he was indeed a lady’s man until he met Pearl.
Moody is the first one of the kids to really meet Pearl and become friends with her. He was fascinated by how she and her mother lived. He didn’t really have a big impact on the story except for the fact that he was Pearl’s friend and she kind of took advantage of that. She constantly lied to him when she could have just told him the truth about what was going on. I felt bad for the poor kid. That’s about all for him. He was just a normal kid.
Lexie played a pretty big role in the story. I didn’t really like her but at the same time all I could do was sympathize with her. You could tell the influences that Mia and Pearl had on her later in the story. She changed her views on everything that was happening with the McCulloughs, her parents, and Mia. She is young and she is going to make mistakes. I do think she made some terrible choices in the book but at the end of the day she is still human like everyone else.
Izzy was the “trouble maker.” She never listened to her mom (I wouldn’t either). She was the whole reason that the story opened up the way it did. I’ll let you read it to find out even though it is literally the beginning of the book. She evolved as the story went on and you end up seeing who the real Izzy is. I don’t think she should have gone that far, and probably took what Mia said to the extreme but I understand where she was coming from. Her mom took everything so seriously when it came to Mia and her past and it ended the way it did for a reason. Izzy finally made a friend and her mom took that away from her. It wasn’t fair so she did what she saw fit. Hint: It involved fire.
The McCulloughs: They just seemed like a normal couple that just wanted a little baby because they couldn’t physically have one. They knew that they would give that little girl the best life, but in the end it didn’t even matter (Linkin Park reference sort of?) They didn’t make that big of an appearance in the story. They were basically a catalyst for the rest of the story.
Plot:
A very well put together plot that I never would have expected. Celeste Ng pretty much gave us all the information to everything that was going on. When an event happened that the reader didn’t understand there was always a back story. It blew my mind. The opinions of the characters on every situation that appeared was executed very well. There is no way that this story was thrown together, and if it was then Celeste Ng is a genius. Just overall a beautiful story that really hits you in the feels.
Side note: The writing was beautiful. It was a lot of description rather than dialogue but it didn’t feel long or boring at any point. The word choice was carefully thought out and there wasn’t a lot of descriptive words that were repeated.
Overall:
Please read this novel. Even if you don’t like it there will be something for everyone to take from it. You don’t even have to connect with the characters to understand how powerful this book really is. It’s all very realistic and it’s a topic no one really talks about. I borrowed this book from the library but I will definitely be purchasing it when I get the chance. This is one book that will stick with me and I want it to be part of my growing collection.
Let me know if you have read this book, and if you have what did you think about it. If you enjoyed reading this blog post give it a like! If you’re not following my blog you totally can! Be respectful and happy reading.
Like this:
Like Loading...
passionatelyperusing.wordpress.com 